1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to generating random numbers and, more particularly, to methods for generating and expanding random numbers using untrusted quantum devices, the method being translatable to quantum key distribution protocols.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Randomness is an indispensable resource for modern day information processing. Without randomness, randomized algorithms, statistical scientific simulations, and secure cryptography would not exist. However, generating randomness is a fundamental problem that is far from fully solved. In fact, many secret keys currently in use can be broken by exploiting the insufficient randomness used in generating the keys.
Quantum mechanics is inherently random, therefore offers promising approaches to this problem. Indeed, commercial products and randomness generation, amplification, and expansion protocols to this end have started to emerge (see, e.g., “Robust randomness amplifiers: Upper and lower bounds,” M. Coudron, T. Vidick, and H. Yuen, volume 8096 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 468-483, Springer, 2013). However, numerous challenges remain. Implementations of quantum operations are, at least in the foreseeable future, far from ideal (e.g., the implementations include unpredictable deviations or errors). These imperfections call for secure protocols that tolerate deviations of quantum devices from ideal specifications. Furthermore, users requiring high levels of security often have to purchase devices from a vendor who is not necessarily trusted. Further still, while some proposed techniques are suggested to have higher levels of security, such techniques require quantum conditions that are not attainable in the real world settings.